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World Art Day – 15 April

World Art Day, a celebration to promote the development, diffusion and enjoyment of art, was proclaimed at the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 2019.

Art nurtures creativity, innovation and cultural diversity for all peoples across the globe and plays an important role in sharing knowledge and encouraging curiosity and dialogue. These are qualities that art has always had, and will always have, if we continue to support environments where artists and artistic freedom are promoted and protected. In this way, furthering the development of art also furthers our means to achieve a free and peaceful world.

Each year, on 15 April, World Art Day celebrations help reinforce the links between artistic creations and society, encourage greater awareness of the diversity of artistic expressions and highlight the contribution of artists to sustainable development. It is also an occasion to shine a light on arts education in schools, as culture can pave the way for inclusive and equitable education.

 

Source: Text & Image: https://www.unesco.org/en/days/world-art

International Day of Human Fraternity – 4 February

Human fraternity for peace and cooperation

We need — perhaps more than ever before — to recognize the valuable contribution of people of all religions, or beliefs, to humanity and the contribution that dialogue among all religious groups can make towards an improved awareness and understanding of the common values shared by all humankind.

We also need to underline the importance of raising awareness about different cultures and religions, or beliefs, and the promotion of tolerance, which involves societal acceptance and respect for religious and cultural diversity, including with regard to religious expression. Education, in particular at school, should contribute in a meaningful way to promoting tolerance and the elimination of discrimination based on religion or belief.

Furthermore, we must acknowledge that  tolerance,  pluralistic  tradition,  mutual  respect  and  the diversity of religions and beliefs promote human fraternity. Thus, it is imperative that we encourage activities  aimed  at  promoting  interreligious  and  intercultural dialogue in  order to  enhance peace  and social  stability,  respect for  diversity and mutual respect and to create, at the global level, and also at the regional, national and local levels, an environment conducive to peace and mutual understanding.

Within that frame, the General-Assembly took note of  all  international,  regional,  national  and  local  initiatives,  as appropriate,  as  well as  efforts  by religious leaders, to promote interreligious and intercultural dialogue, and in this regard took note also of the meeting between Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad al-Tayyib, on 4 February 2019 in Abu Dhabi, which resulted in the signing of the document entitled “Human fraternity for world peace and living together”.

 

Source: Text:  https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-fraternity    Image: vaticannews.va

World Children’s Day – 20 November 2023

2023 Theme: For every child, every right

World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children’s Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.

November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Since 1990, World Children’s Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on children’s rights.

Mothers and fathers, teachers, nurses and doctors, government leaders and civil society activists, religious and community elders, corporate moguls and media professionals, as well as young people and children themselves, can play an important part in making World Children’s Day relevant for their societies, communities and nations.

World Children’s Day offers each of us an inspirational entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children’s rights, translating into dialogues and actions that will build a better world for children.

 

Source: Text & Image: World Children’s Day      PHOTO:UNICEF/UN0747721/Mark Naftalin

World Kiswahili Language Day – 7 July

In the 1950s the United Nations established the Kiswahili language unit of United Nations Radio, and today Kiswahili is the only African language within the Directorate of the Global Communications at the United Nations. The United Nations General Assembly, through its resolution 71/328 of 11 September 2017, on multilingualism, welcomed implementation of a day dedicated to each of its official languages in order to inform and raise awareness of their history, culture and use, and encouraged the Secretary-General and institutions such as UNESCO to consider extending this important initiative to other non-official languages spoken throughout the world.

In that regard, the 41st session of the General Conference of UNESCO adopted resolution 41 C/61 that recognized the role the Kiswahili language plays in promoting cultural diversity, creating awareness and fostering dialogue among civilizations and noted the need to promote multilingualism as a core value of the United Nations and an essential factor in harmonious communication between peoples, which promotes unity in diversity and international understanding, tolerance and dialogue. The resolution proclaimed 7 July of each year as World Kiswahili Language Day. Kiswahili is the first African language to the recognized in such a manner by the UN.

 

Source: Text: https://www.unesco.org/en/kiswahili-language-day    Image: UN

Le Pape au Bahreïn – 3-6 novembre 2022

Le Pape au Bahreïn, un signe d’unité et de dialogue en temps d’épreuve

Le Pape sera au Bahreïn du 3 au 6 novembre. Il se rendra dans les villes de Manama et d’Awali, où il participera au « Forum de Bahreïn pour le dialogue: Orient et Occident pour la coexistence humaine ». 

Parmi les principaux événements, la Sainte Messe au stade national de Bahreïn et la rencontre avec les jeunes à l’école du Sacré-Cœur.

Le cardinal secrétaire d’État Pietro Parolin, dans une interview à L’Osservatore Romano et à Radio-Vatican News, réaffirme que «dans un monde caractérisé par des tensions, des oppositions, des conflits», la visite du Pape et les événements à Bahreïn auxquels il participera sont «un message d’unité, de cohésion et de paix».

 

Source : Texte : Massimiliano Menichetti – Cité du Vatican, 31 octobre    Images : Agenza Fides   Cath.ch

 

Journée internationale pour l’élimination totale des armes nucléaires – 26 septembre

L’avénement d’un monde débarrassé des armes nucléaires est un des objectifs les plus anciens de l’Organisation des Nations Unies. Cette volonté était d’ailleurs déjà présente dans la première résolution de l’Assemblée générale en 1946.C’est en 2013 que l’assemblée générale de l’ONU a proclamé le 26 septembre Journée internationale pour l’élimination totale des armes nucléaires. Cette décision a été prise suite de sa réunion sur le désarmement nucléaire qui s’était tenue à l’époque à New York.

Message du secrétaire général Antonio Guterres

« Notre grande famille mondiale ne peut plus laisser le spectre du conflit nucléaire planer sur notre action visant à promouvoir le développement, à atteindre les objectifs de développement durable et à mettre fin à la pandémie de COVID-19. Il est grand temps de chasser ce spectre pour de bon, de débarrasser le monde des armes nucléaires et d’entrer dans une nouvelle ère de dialogue, de confiance et de paix pour toutes et tous. »

Antonio Guterres est secrétaire général des Nations unies depuis le 1ᵉʳ janvier 2017

La force du symbole

L’illustration de cet article montre la sculpture « Le Bien défait le Mal », qui se trouve près du Siège de l’ONU à New York. Elle représente Saint George terrassant le dragon. Ce qui ne soit voit pas, c’est que le dragon a été créé à partir de fragments de missiles nucléaires soviétiques SS-20 et américains Pershing.

 

Un site à visiter : www.un.org    Source: Texte: Journée Mondiale     Image: unsplash.com

Journée internationale de l’amitié – 30 juillet

Journée internationale de l'amitié

Elle a été proclamée en 2011 par l’ONU pour promouvoir l’amitié entre les peuples, les pays, les cultures et les individus et inspirer autant que faire se peut les efforts de paix entre communautés… un discours qui fait du bien même si il faut se reférer au Docteur Coué !

Amitié, culture de paix

La résolution 65/275 votée par l’ONU insiste sur la participation des jeunes et sur celle des futurs dirigeants de pays, à des activités qui impliquent les différentes cultures et proment la compréhension entre les pays et les communautés et le respect de la diversité.

La Journée Internationale de l’amitié soutient aussi les buts et les objectifs de la « Déclaration et du Programme d’action sur une culture de la paix » (ONU).

L’ONU encourage les gouvernements, les ong et les individus à organiser toutes sortes d’événements, activités et initiatives qui contribuent aux efforts de la communauté internationale de promotion d’un dialogue entre les civilisations, la solidarité, la compréhension mutuelle et la réconciliation.

Un site à visiter : www.un.org    Source: Texte & Image: Journée Mondiale

International Day of Friendship – 30 July

Sharing the human spirit through friendship

Our world faces many challenges, crises and forces of division — such as poverty, violence, and human rights abuses — among many others — that undermine peace, security, development and social harmony among the world’s peoples.

To confront those crises and challenges, their root causes must be addressed by promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms — the simplest of which is friendship.

Through friendship — by accumulating bonds of camaraderie and developing strong ties of trust — we can contribute to the fundamental shifts that are urgently needed to achieve lasting stability, weave a safety net that will protect us all, and generate passion for a better world where all are united for the greater good.

Background

The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.

The resolution places emphasis on involving young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity.

To mark the International Day of Friendship the UN encourages governments, international organizations and civil society groups to hold events, activities and initiatives that contribute to the efforts of the international community towards promoting a dialogue among civilizations, solidarity, mutual understanding and reconciliation.

The International Day of Friendship is an initiative that follows on the proposal made by UNESCO defining the Culture of Peace as a set of values, attitudes and behaviours that reject violence and endeavour to prevent conflicts by addressing their root causes with a view to solving problems. It was then adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1997.

 

Source: Text & Image: un.org

World Multiple Sclerosis Day – 30 May 2022

World Multiple Sclerosis Day, falling on May 30, invites dialogue on the disease. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic progressive disease where the insulating covers of the nervous system are damaged. MS is also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata, and its symptoms include muscle weakness, double vision, and mental/physical problems. Due to the lack of research studies on the disease, the exact causes behind it are generally unknown. Many scientists believe that there might be a connection between the onset of the disease and genes and/or nerve-cell dysfunction. Furthermore, there is no permanent cure as of yet. The symptoms can be relieved using the right set of treatments and medication.

HISTORY OF WORLD MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS DAY

The first World Multiple Sclerosis Day was celebrated in 2009 by the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF). MSIF was officially established in 1967 as an international body that coordinated with national MS organizations belonging to many countries like Turkey, Slovakia, India, and the U.S.

The federation aims to bring light to MS and the scientific research related to it. The theme for this year’s World Multiple Sclerosis Day is ‘Connect.’ This theme, which continues from 2020 through 2022, focuses on bringing the world together by forming a connection with each other as well as the self for the sake of better care. MSIF spends the whole month of May and early June spreading awareness and hope about MS through their themed campaigns.

Around 2.8 million people suffer from MS each year. This disease relates to damaged myelin sheaths that cover the nervous system in the spinal cord and brain. The damaged myelin sheaths become covered in lesions or plaques, and this is where the disease gets its name — ‘multiple sclerosis’ means ‘multiple scars.’ MS’s exact causes remain unknown, but some scientists attribute genetics, infectious agents, and cell dysfunction to the disease’s causes. Symptoms include muscle spasms, speech and swallowing problems, coordination and balance issues, depression, mood swings, and so forth. While there’s no permanent cure for MS, ongoing research relates to treating the symptoms with drugs and neuroprotection strategies.

Source: Text: nationaltoday.com    Image: freepik.com

World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development – 21 May

Held every year on 21 May, the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development celebrates not only the richness of the world’s cultures, but also the essential role of intercultural dialogue for achieving peace and sustainable development. The United Nations General Assembly first declared this World Day in 2002, following UNESCO’s adoption of the 2001 Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, recognizing the need to “enhance the potential of culture as a means of achieving prosperity, sustainable development and global peaceful coexistence.” 

With the adoption in September 2015 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the United Nations, and the Resolution A/C.2/70/L.59 on Culture and Sustainable Development adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2015 , the message of the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is more important than ever. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals can best be achieved by drawing upon the creative potential of the world’s diverse cultures, and engaging in continuous dialogue to ensure that all members of society benefit from sustainable development. 

Source: Text: Unesco   Image: Depositphotos